Day 41 and 42 Week 6

Well I am home! My final total distance travelled in the 6 weeks was 10,152 miles or 16,334 kilometres. I was a bit amazed when I handed the car back that I hadn’t put a single bump, dent or scratch on it in all those crazy miles.

I kept pretty close to my guestimate of about $100 to $120 per day with only a few blowouts due mainly to accommodation charges.

I couldn’t update my blog yesterday because I couldn’t log onto the free Wi-Fi at LAX for some reason. Probably my lack of IT skills more than anything. I dropped the car back to the Car Rental people at 11.20am and then just had to hang around the terminal until the A380 left at 22.10hrs. Good thing I had a good book to read.

Overall, I did have an absolute ball. I got to see 7 Civil War Battlefields, The Little Big Horn Battlefield, Ground Zero in New York, The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the Hoover Dam and a million other places. I met some really great people and have a thousand photos and memories that will last a life time.  I can’t recommend a road trip across the United States highly enough. The changing cultures from one side of the country to the other is amazing. It really is an amazing country. 

By the end of the trip, I had the driving down pat.  Even driving in LA wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as it would have been 6 weeks earlier.

It is going to be difficult getting used to the price of things at home again. Not having the $1.00 per litre petrol or the $5 take away meals with endless drinks or $8.00 all you can eat buffets is going to be a bit of an adjustment.  I can't wait to get back over there again.

A big thank you to all of you who read my blog and gave me encouraging advice along the way.  I hope you got as much pleasure following my adventures as I had doing it. I definitely have the bug now and will start planning the next one soon. Not that much planning goes into my trips, it is more of a suck it and see adventure.

Remember, “Don’t regret the things you have done, regret the things you haven’t done”

Brad signing off!

Day 40 Week 6

I took a slow drive up the coast towards LA today. I hugged the beach as much as I could wherever possible. Apparently we had a small earthquake today, about 5.1 magnitude. It was out to sea a bit. Everyone was talking about it but I was driving at the time and missed it.  I am spending the night in a cheap motel in Huntington Beach. It’s about 30 miles to LAX so I will take a slow drive into the airport tomorrow and hand the car back before I have about an 8 hour wait in the terminal.

My fleapit room with the mirror above the bed.

Day 39 Week 6

Hung around town today waiting for David and the boys to arrive.  We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant across the road from the motel. They are very busy tomorrow out at Camp Pendleton, so I am heading up the coast towards LA. I have pretty much exhausted this town for things to do so I will have a look at Capistrano or Laguna beach. Be easier to duck over to LAX from there.

Day 38 Week 6

I Enjoyed a lazy Saturday just hanging around today. Being a weekend in a coastal town, the number of people seemed to quadruple. The beach was packed even though it was an overcast day.

Otherwise, it was just a restful day.

Day 37 Week 6

I found out that a daily commuter train runs almost hourly down to San Diego from here, so I took the train down there today. The last stop on the train line was at Santa Fe station which is right on San Diego harbour. I knew that the Aircraft Carrier USS Midway was permanently docked alongside as a floating museum, so I thought I would go and have a look.  The Midway was Commissioned in 1945 and Decommissioned in 1992. She was the flagship of the US Fleet in the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm and led the airborne assault on Baghdad.

 Nice clean commuter train to San Diego

Arriving in San Diego

Approaching the USS Midway

The USS Midway

Inside the Hanger deck

Sitting directly across the harbour was the USS Nimitz. Now that’s a big ship.  

While I was standing on the flight deck, looking at a flat screen TV that was mounted on the side of the ‘Island’ as they call the raised section that houses the bridge etc, I was watching a video about air operations and shooting planes off the deck. This young girl, turns out she was 19, came up and stood alongside me watching the video. I just glanced at her and said “Amazing isn’t it” and she said, “It’s not as cool as it looks.” So I said “Do you do this?” She said “Well, I’m in training at the moment but yeah.” It turns out she is from the Nimitz and had come over on her time off to have a look at the Midway. We ended up talking for at least ½ hour. I got all the inside guff on what happens on the flight line etc. She interpreted for me all the hand signals that the guys on video were using to communicate with each other. It is so noisy on the flight deck that everything is done by hand signals.  It was really good talking to her. She was a really nice girl.

Day 36 Week 6

I had a lazy day today, just hanging around Oceanside. This little town has some lovely Art Deco buildings, some original and others renovated. It really gives it a nice retro feel.

There was a twilight street market going on this evening so I had a browse through that.

I also went for a walk down at the beach

 A big peir

 Looking north

Looking south

The water was freezing. I mean painfully cold.

It was a pleasant break from driving today. I think I might do it again tomorrow.

Day 35 Week 5

Travelled down the coast and through LA today. WOW! What a stuff up on my part. Note to self. DON’T ARRIVE IN LA ON PEAK HOUR! Just the way it turned out, I hit LA at 15.30hrs. Even a couple of hours out, I could see it happening but couldn’t stop it. If I wanted to be down the coast like I did, I just had to do it. 70 miles of bumper to bumper traffic, 5 lanes wide. If I hadn’t done it myself I wouldn’t have believed it. I don’t know how these people do it every day. And they all seem to be texting away on their phones as they duck and weave in and out of lanes. I was gob smacked.

Anyway, I managed to get through it all without banging into anyone, so I’m happy. I’m at a little coastal town called Oceanside. Right next door to the Marine Corps, Camp Pendleton.